Searching for Desire
by Vertically Challenged Poncho
Summary: The heir of a legend is searching for adventure. The youngest brother of seven is searching for his moment to shine. The mischievous orphan is searching for her parents.
1. The Heir of a Legend

**Searching for Desire**

_By Vertically Challenged Poncho_

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Harry Potter books in anyway, shape, or form.

Summary - The heir of a legend is searching for adventure. The youngest brother of seven is searching for his moment to shine. The mischievous orphan is searching for her parents.

Author's notes: The only notes I have are ones that I do not fancy stating and that is because they happen to be potential weaknesses to my story. The first being that this first chapter is fairly short, particularly in comparison to the second chapter and hopefully the rest of the chapters to come. Second, there is indeed an original character in this story. Hopefully you accept the character. Third, this is an alternate universe fic. It's not completely sugar-coated, but I will admit that it is meant to be more of a fun fic more than anything else. Oh! And I am also in the market for a beta if anyone is interested.

Harry Potter was sleeping contentedly on his four-poster bed in his scarlet clad bedroom. Being a near teenager, his body had no plans to make a conscious appearance for several more hours.

His father, on the other hand, had different ideas. James Potter was sneaking into his son's room, carrying a feather, a glass of water, and a handful of Filibuster's Wet-Start No-Heat Fireworks.

Suppressing laughter, he tickled his son's nose with the feather. Harry's nose wiggled irritably and then Harry awoke with a sneeze. Before he had time to register his surroundings, his dad had poured an entire glass of ice-cold water on his head.

While Harry was beginning to shout about waking him and soaking him with water, James set off the fireworks, which emitted very loud bangs that hurt Harry's still sensitive from sleeping ears.

"DAD!" Harry yelled, leaping from his four-poster. "I'll hex you!" James bounded down the stairs by Harry's bedroom in two leaps, but his son was right behind him –soaking wet and enraged with fury at being awoken too early.

"You can't you don't know magic and you haven't a wand!" James teased his son as the pair ran into the kitchen, where Harry's mom, Lily was cooking breakfast. Lily sighed at the spectacle of a grown man mocking his own son, and continued preparing the meal, ignoring James and Harry.

Harry groaned at his dad's comment.

"But that's all about to change." James grinned and pulled a yellow envelope from his back pocket. "Your Hogwarts letter arrived this morning."

"Give it to me!" Harry had forgotten that he was mad at his dad for waking him up, had forgotten that he was soaked from head to foot and that his ears were sore from the fireworks. Who cared about that when Harry had just received the letter he had been waiting for, for nearly eleven years?

"Now, that's not a very nice way to ask for something." James said, "Lily didn't we teach our son better?"

"I did, but you diluted him." Lily retaliated without taking her eyes off the bacon she was frying.

"Fine, fine." Harry groaned. "May I please have my Hogwarts letter oh great father?"

"There that's more like it." James smiled and handed over the letter.

Harry could literally feel the magic of the school bursting from inside the envelope. He felt excited goose pimples grow all over his body as he carefully tore open the ornate wax seal that bore a lion, a serpent, a badger, and an eagle.

HOGWARTS SCHOOL

_of_ WITCHCRAFT _and_ WIZARDRY

Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore

_(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)_

Dear Mr. Potter,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.

Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall

_Deputy Headmistress_

"So, what's it say?" James asked his son,

"What do you think it says?" Harry responded.

"That you've been given a Ministry order not to set foot on Hogwarts grounds now or ever because you are an ugly troll," James said sarcastically, "I don't know, maybe they've changed the words since I got my letter."

"Is it just me or does Dad seem more excited about this than me?" Harry asked his mother as she set a plate of toast in front of Harry at the breakfast table.

"He's just can't wait to see somebody with the name Potter succeed at Hogwarts." Lily said coolly.

"Hey wait one minute." James exclaimed, "I was a top student, on the quidditch team, knew everyway passageway on the grounds, was sought after by every girl, and ended up with the fittest one in the place. How is that not succeeding?"

"Because," Lily said, "You announce that to everyone you meet."

James mumbled something about "not _every person_" as Harry and Lily hid their chuckles behind their toast.


	2. The Mischievous Orphan

**Searching for Desire**

_By Vertically Challenged Poncho_

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Harry Potter books. Do I honestly have to type that at the beginning of each chapter?

Author's notes: Just a few things I forgot to mention. 1. This is an edited repost of an idea from a few months ago. 2. The rating is just for safety.

* * *

Sighing, Ella strolled aimlessly around the courtyard of the orphanage where she had resided since she was a wee little girl. Ever since her parents had died, leaving her all alone with no other living relatives at the age of one year. Not that Ella minded very much. Sure it would be nice to have living parents, but she had long since accepted the fact that they were gone and she would never meet them.

The only thing bothering Ella at the moment was that there was simply nothing to do at the orphanage during the summer holiday. I mean to say there are only so many times you can read The Wizard of OZ before being able to recite the entire thing by heart.

During the school year, Ella was usually made to do her schoolwork and nothing more. Ella enjoyed learning, this was true; one may go as far as to say that she had a grand thirst for knowledge. However, Ella didn't like to actually do the schoolwork too much. She much preferred to learn the information from experience. Besides she ordinarily grasped the topic to be learnt right away and needn't bother with all the mindless work that went along with it.

Anyway, at the moment Ella was highly bored. She didn't have too many friends at the orphanage. Not that she wasn't nice to them, or they to her. It's just that the other girls at the orphanage didn't quite understand her. Ella was always making odd things happen. Not on purpose (well, most of the time. Ella did have quite the affinity for practical jokes), but strange occurrences did seem to happen whenever Ella was around. For example, just this morning there had been eggs served for breakfast and Ella –not being a big fan of eggs- had wished for waffles. Right before her eyes, Ella's plastic plate of scrambled eggs transformed with a puff of scarlet smoke into a silver platter of Belgian waffles complete with maple syrup and golden margarine.

Ella chuckled to herself as she recalled the dumbstruck looks that had been painted all over rest of the orphans and nuns when Ella had been presented with that scrumptious breakfast and they were left to dine on their grubby plates of tasteless eggs.

Of course, even if Ella didn't make bizarre things happen and if she did have friends at the orphanage, she still wouldn't have anybody to play with right now because nearly all of the orphans got shipped away to foster homes every summer holiday. Not Ella, though. Nope, foster parents never wanted Ella. Sure, at first they would see Ella and want to take her home, but as soon as their hair turned bright pink and their front teeth got knocked up their right nostrils, the foster parents didn't want anything to do with Ella. For the life of her, Ella couldn't figure out why things like that always happened around perspective parents. Ella liked to pretend that it was because her parents were still with her somehow and they didn't want anyone else taking care of her. But that sugar coated dream never lasted long because as soon as Ella sent the foster parents away, all of the nuns who cared for the orphans would round on Ella like vultures on a dead carcass.

As Ella lay on the soft blades of grass in the courtyard beside a stone fountain partially encased with moss, she pondered all of this and began to wish –as she so often did- that there was some explanation as to why unusual things always happened around her and why she didn't fit in with rest of the orphans and why she could never find it in herself to believe others when they told her that her parents are dead.

Still searching for the answers to these questions and staring up at the fluffy clouds basking in the sea above, Ella saw a strange bird flying towards the courtyard. No, thought Ella, that's incorrect, the bird is flying towards…me.

As the large bird came nearer, Ella identified it as some sort of owl. That's strange, thought Ella; I've never even seen an owl at nighttime let alone in broad daylight. The bird rested upon the edge of the fountain and –much to Ella's further bewilderment- dropped an envelope in her lap.

Hesitantly, Ella picked up the envelope and read with mounting confusion who it was addressed to.

_Miss Arabella G. Hathaway_

_18 Winter Grove Lane_

_The lower bunk beside the window_

_St. Genesius' Orphanage, London_

Upon reading this, Ella didn't know whether it was now safe to open because it was most definitely hers or to extinguish of the letter altogether because whoever was writing it was most definitely a stalker.

Deciding on the former, because Ella so rarely got mail and was at the moment particularly eager for answers, she carefully pried apart the wax stamp that bore a lion, a snake, a badger, and an eagle and took out the piece of parchment enclosed.

HOGWARTS SCHOOL

_of_ WITCHCRAFT _and_ WIZARDRY

Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore

_(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)_

Dear Miss Hathaway,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.

Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall

_Deputy Headmistress_

"Sister Kathy! Sister Kathy!" Ella ran through the stone corridors of the orphanage, waving the letter above her head, shouting madly for her main guardian at the orphanage.

"Quiet down girl." The nun chastised her. "What is it you want?"

"I've just gotten this letter and it appears absolutely absurd." Ella told her.

"Let me see that." Sister Kathy took the letter from Ella. Sister Kathy's eyes widened as she read further along the letter.

"Come with me." Sister Kathy grabbed Ella's wrist and led her along the familiar path to Mother Superior's quarters. _What had she done wrong this time?_ Ella thought. She didn't even know this McGonagall person, how could it have been her fault?

"Wait here." The nun told her as she went through the thick oak doors to Mother Superior's office. Ella plunked herself down on the ancient chest that served as the troublemaker's bench. She had sat there countless times before. Every time she accidentally made something strange happen. She had been made to wait on this chest so many times, in fact, that she had discovered a way to eavesdrop on the nuns' conversation.

Cautiously, Ella pulled a hairpin from her pocket (she never wore them in her hair, but they were essential for picking the many locks at St. Genesius Orphanage) and begun to carefully twist it around in the lock of the trunk. Working quickly, Ella hopped off the trunk and took from it a glass from the orphanage's kitchen and pressed it against the door to Mother Superior's door.

"You'll have to tell her everything." Mother Superior's voice said. _Everything?_ Ella wondered. _What was everything?_

"Everything?" Sister Kathy asked

"Yes, everything." Mother Superior snapped.

"Me?"

"Yes, you. Have your ears broken?"

"My apologies mother. I will speak to Ella at once."

Ella jumped out of her intense haze of curiosity and threw the glass back in the trunk. The copper doorknob began to turn, finding Ella sitting nonchalantly on the trunk. Only from behind would one see the frantic movements of Ella's hand fidgeting with the lock and hairpin.

Sister Kathy exited the office.

"Come with me." Ella allowed Sister Kathy to lead the way and she smoothly stood up as she slid the hairpin out of the locked trunk.

Sister Kathy led Ella to her own office, which was also highly familiar to Ella. Sister Kathy's office had hardly any paraphernalia about it to personalize the place. In fact, if it weren't for the fact that she kept all the furniture well-dusted and shiny, one would believe the office to have been unused for years.

"Tea?" the nun asked as Ella launched herself comfortably into a chair in front of Sister Kathy's desk.

"Please!" Ella said enthusiastically. It was rare that she was offered tea when she was having a one on one with a nun. You don't usually get tea when you're being punished.

"How many lumps?"

"One please."

Sister Kathy gave Ella her scolding tea and took a sip out of her own cup. She seemed to be contemplating where to begin.

"The letter you received was not a fraud."

"Never thought it was." Ella said simply as she blew on her tea to cool it off.

"Mother Superior says you are to attend the school."

"No!" Ella shrieked. She had burned her tongue on her tea as Sister Kathy was speaking "Wait. What did you say?"

Sister Kathy pursed her lips, ignoring the girl's lack of manners, "I said that Mother Superior says you are to attend the school."

"Send her my thanks." Ella said. "May I go now?" she desperately wanted to put some ice on her stinging tongue.

"I am not finished, Miss Hathaway."

Ella sat back and bowed her head in sorry obedience.

"As you may have inferred from the letter, you are a witch."

Of course, Ella had inferred that, but that didn't alter the fact that if sent chills up her spine to hear it spoken out loud.

"That being said," Sister Kathy continued, "It is time for you to learn who your parents were."

"You knew who they were?" Ella exclaimed, "You've known and you always told me you didn't?"

Sister Kathy, as usual, was not perturbed in the slightest by Ella's outburst. That's why Sister Kathy had been made Ella's main guardian, her calmness did not falter during all of Ella's escapades and accidents.

"As you will learn, the magical world is one of great secrecy. We were not permitted to tell you of your true identity until you were accepted to Hogwarts. On that note, you are not to speak the truth of your leave to any of the other girls. Tell them you have been accepted into a gifted school that you parents attended."

"M-my parents attended?" she sputtered

"That is what you are to tell them, Miss Hathaway." Ella's face fell. "However, it is none the less true."

Ella could've sworn she saw Sister Kathy's lip curl up slightly at the corners.

"So, what else do you know about them?" Ella was eager to hear all she could about the parents she never knew.

"Their names were Reese and Kurt Hathaway. You were their first and only child. From what I hear they were a great witch and wizard they died of alcohol poisoning."

"They were drinkers?" Ella's picture perfect parents were dissolving before her eyes.

"No, somebody actually poisoned their liquor."

Had they not been discussing her parent's death, Ella would have burst out laughing at the irony.

* * *


	3. The Youngest Brother

**Searching for Desire**

_By Vertically Challenged Poncho_

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Harry Potter books in anyway, shape, or form.

Author's notes: I would appreciate the service of a beta. Enjoy the show!

* * *

"Ron, don't gobble your eggs so quickly!" Mrs. Weasley barked at her youngest son.

"He can't help it." Ron's older brother Fred said.

"Yeah, he's trying to live up to the reputation of his piggy nose." Fred's twin, George said.

"Shut up." Ron said through a mouthful of eggs.

"Ron, don't speak with your mouthful." Mrs. Weasley reprimanded her son.

Ron was trying to finish his breakfast as fast as he could so he could go over to his friend Harry's house to play quidditch. Harry had clearing in the woods behind his house that his dad had built to look like a miniature quidditch pitch. Also, Harry had a Comet 260, one of the best brooms out at the time. It was neat to hang out at Harry huge house and play with all his cool things, but it always reminded Ron of everything he didn't have. The only area for playing quidditch he and his brothers had was a tiny clearing behind their shabby house that was filled with weeds and gnats and Ron still rode an old Shooting Star that had been his brother Charlie's years ago.

SPLAT! Something had been thrown against the kitchen window. Fred went up to get it and sighed when he discovered what it was.

"Errol's come with the post." He said.

"Oh, just leave him by the window for now." Mrs. Weasley instructed, "The fresh air will do him some good."

"Ooh ho ho!" Fred giggled annoyingly, "Looks like somebody's gotten their Hogwarts letter!"

"What?" Ron exclaimed, "Give it here!"

But Fred clutched it to his chest.

"I can't believe our little Ronny-kins is growing up so fast!" Fred pretended to wipe a tear from his eye.

"It seems only yesterday that he was falling off his little toy broomstick into the mud." George had joined in and pretended to blow his nose on the Hogwarts envelope. "Oh wait," George stopped, "That _was_ yesterday!"

"Give it here!" Ron leapt across the table and stole the letter out of George's grasp.

"Tut tut, where did you learn you manners?" Fred clicked his tongue.

"Professor McGonagall will not stand for bad behavior like yours." George added.

"She'll throw you straight to the giant squid!" Fred said in an attempt to frighten his younger brother, but Ron was too immersed in his letter.

HOGWARTS SCHOOL

_of_ WITCHCRAFT _and_ WIZARDRY

Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore

_(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)_

Dear Mr. Weasley,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.

Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall

_Deputy Headmistress_

Just as Ron's eyes skimmed over the last letter on the page, a big, sleek grey owl came pouring through the kitchen window. It dived down to Ron and dropped a letter in his lap. Then it soared right back out the window.

Ron recognized it immediately as Harry's Dad's owl, Leo. Opening the letter, Ron saw Harry's scrawl:

_Dear Ron,_

_I just got my Hogwarts letter! Have you gotten yours yet? Dad says you're still more than welcome to come over to play quidditch on Wednesday and that he's still willing to play Keeper. Also, he and Mum are having their old school friends over for dinner tonight to celebrate my acceptance to Hogwarts. Do you remember Remus and Sirius? You met them once when we were around seven. Sirius turned into a dog and scared you so much that you hid in the kitchen cabinet all night because you thought he was the grim? Anyway, Mum says that you're to stay for dinner. _

_Sincerely,_

_Harry_

_PS – I do hope you get this letter before we get together. Dad says Leo is fast, but I don't know how fast. If you get it afterwards, I hope we had a great time hanging out and I apologize for beating you in quidditch._

"Is that from Harry, dear?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"Yeah, he says that his dad is having some old school friends over and that I can stay over for supper." Ron said.

"So long as its no problem with Lily."

"It's not."

"Well, don't bother writing back. I dare say Errol's had enough for one day. Go head and floo to Harry's house."

Excited to get to go to his friend's house, Ron ran up the stairs to get his Shooting Star and hopped back down to the fireplace.

"Bye mum!" he shouted before throwing a handful of floo powder into the roaring flames. Ron stepped into the flames and said –very clearly- "Godric's Hollow."

He felt something tug behind his navel as he pictured meeting with Remus and Sirius, and hoped that Sirius wouldn't turn into a dog again.

* * *


	4. Moony and Padfoot

**Searching for Desire**

_By Vertically Challenged Poncho_

Chapter IV: Moony and Padfoot

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Harry Potter. Harry Potter and all other characters belong to Warner Bros. and J.K. Rowling.

Author's Notes: Hullo readers! I would like to thank **SilverDragon14** to whom I am very grateful. You reviewed my story precisely how I had hoped people would see it. Wary about the OC, but learn to love her; recognize that the story is as canon as it can possibly be; and, of course, confused about what happened to Lord Voldemort. Well, in the following chapter, I think that many of the answers will be set up and fully answered in the chapter after this one. Nothing that will take away suspense before its too built, just simple background information that needs to be told. Also, thank you to **Sark's Heart, **who has already reviewed twice! Thank you. That being said, enjoy the show!

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"JAMES POTTER GET BACK TO THE HOUSE THIS INSTANT!" the irrepressible shout of Lily Potter caused James to miss an incoming quaffle from Ron and nearly fall off his broom in fright…nearly; he wasn't one of Hogwart's best chasers ever for nothing.

"Sheesh, I've never seen a guy so terrified of his wife before." Ron mumbled to Harry, who chuckled.

"Hey I heard that!" James said, "And I'm not terrified, she just startled me is all."

"JAMES!" Lily's magnified voice again rustled the tree branches and sent crows flying.

"Come one guys, we'd better get back to the house before Lils explodes."

"Alright." Ron and Harry reluctantly landed on the soft ground and exited the miniature Quidditch stadium with Harry's father.

They had been playing Quidditch nearly all day, ever since Ron had arrived early that morning. Harry's Dad let Ron fly on his own Comet 260 and used Ron's Shooting Star. Even with the ancient broomstick, James was able to block almost every quaffle that came his way by Harry and Ron. In the beginning, he had been letting most of the quaffles into the goals, but Ron and Harry complained about him letting them win so after that he put all his effort into the game. James zoomed back and forth between the golden hoops, stretching out every limb as far as it would go to keep the balls from soaring threw the goals.

However, Harry and Ron had both been trained for years by James as well as by Ron's older brother Charlie. This meant that they were both very talented Quidditch players. James was very proud of Harry's abilities, but he had to admit that he was a bit disappointed that Harry was more interested in Seeking than Chasing.

Lily's shouts had surrounded the three their whole walk home and were still blaring loudly when they entered the back living room.

"Lily dear!" James yelled when they entered. "We're home now! You can stop screaming!"

Lily appeared at the door to the kitchen and –after performing a _quietus_ spell-, said

"Remus and Sirius will be here any minute. Go clean up and when you get down, Harry and Ron I want you to set the table and James you'll need to clean the living room. There are dungbomb remains all over the floor."

Harry and Ron immediately went up the stairs to clean off the mud and dirt they had gotten covered in while playing Quidditch. James, however, didn't go as easily.

"Those weren't _my_ dungbombs!" he exclaimed, "Harry set them off!"

"Did not!" Harry shouted from the stairs.

"It doesn't matter James, you're cleaning them up." With that Lily turned on her heel, back to the kitchen.

Muttering under his breath, James began pointing his wand at all of the dungbomb remnants and made them disappear (along with a few scorch marks). When he had finished, he began to head up the stairs to get cleaned up. However, the fireplace started to roar with flames causing James to turn back around.

A wizard with shoulder-length, dark hair and a jovial grin stepped out of the fireplace,

"Prongs! How are you?"

"Padfoot! Great to see you!" James strode over to the fireplace and embraced his friend.

"Where's Moony?" James asked.

"He'll be along in half a second." Almost as soon as Sirius had spoken, the flames began to roar once more and out walked another wizard with light brown hair and very pale skin.

"Hullo, Prongs." The wizard said when he had brushed the soot off his shabby robes.

"How're you doing Moony?"

"Not too bad, Snape's been sending me that new Wolfsbane potion each month, so my transformations aren't nearly as bad." There was an evident twitch that passed across both James and Sirius' faces at the mention of Snape.

"Remus!" Lily had entered from the kitchen.

"Lily! How are you?" Remus strolled over to her and gave her a hug.

"I'm doing great." She said. "James, why don't you go upstairs and tell Harry and Ron that Remus and Sirius have arrived." James nodded and strode to the stairs.

"Oh and James." Lily added, "Take a shower while you're at it, you smell like a troll's underarm."

Sirius and Remus chuckled as James left the room.

"Ron, eh?" Sirius said to Lily, "Is he that one that thought I was the Grim?"

"Yes." Lily said with a slight laugh. "Poor kid."

"MOONY! PADFOOT!" Harry and Ron had appeared at the foot of the stairs. Harry ran towards his dad's friends. Sirius scooped Harry up in a hug and set him back down again.

Harry hardly got to see his Godfather except during the summer months as both he and Remus worked at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. However, once school started, Harry would get to see them everyday. Harry didn't know why Sirius wasn't an auror like his dad. He knew that Sirius and James had both gone to auror training together and been partners for a few years. Something happened to Sirius, though, that made him so mad at the ministry he quit his job and joined the one thing the ministry hated and admired the most, Albus Dumbledore.

"Would you like some tea?" Lily asked the two wizards, "Dinner's not quite ready and we need to give James some time to get rid of his stench."

"Tea would be lovely." Remus said.

"Harry, Ron, why don't you set the table while I get the tea?" Harry and Ron nodded their heads and went to get the silverware.

"So, Ron you're one of the Weasleys, right?" Sirius asked the red head as he placed forks on the left side of every plate that Harry put out.

"Yes." He answered softly.

"Well, don't look so ashamed I love your family!" Sirius said. "Fred and George are great! They always share their experiments with me. Of course, I may enjoy them more if they didn't always experiment with them during my class, but they're brilliant all the same."

Ron grunted in response.

"Are you looking forward to Hogwarts Ron?" Remus changed the subject. He had been sensing that Ron was always spoken to as a portal to complimenting his older brothers.

"Yeah." Ron shrugged.

"Yeah?" Harry repeated in disbelief at Ron's lack of enthusiasm, "Ron, it's going to be the best seven years of our lives!"

"Ron," Remus said, discerning what was going on, "Don't let your brothers bring you down. You won't be cast in their shadows at Hogwarts. There are so many students there that it will take no time for you to make your own name for yourself and make friends. After all, you already have one great friend." He gestured towards Harry who put on a mock pompous air and bowed grandly.

"At the same time, your brothers will come in handy. You'll know some of the older students through your brothers and knowing older students always makes you look cool. It'll be great. I can guarantee that no one will put you down for having so many older brothers."

"And if they do, send 'em my way and I'll jinx 'em." Sirius said with a grin.

Ron smiled. He supposed his older brothers could come in handy. And already knowing two of the professors certainly wouldn't do him any harm either. However, Ron wasn't too sure of how beneficial being best friends with Harry Potter would be. If he wasn't put in his brother's shadows, Ron was certain he would be put in Harry's. How in the world could he compare to a kid who killed the darkest wizard of their age when he was baby? Not to mention the fact that Harry was a descendent of Godric Gryffindor. Those combined were enough to make witches and wizards goggle at Harry wherever he went. It would be no different at Hogwarts.

"I'm back and smelling fine!" James announced as he swung open the dining room door and entered.

"Hold on, let's see if you pass the ultimate test." Sirius promptly transformed into his animagus form of a great black dog and sniffed his friend's leg using his heightened sense of smell.

Ron's ears became inflamed with scarlet at seeing the dog he had once mistaken for the Grim.

Sirius morphed back into wizard form.

"Congratulations Mr. Prongs you have passed the test with flying colors. Although, I don't think Lily appreciates you using her perfume."

"What?" James exclaimed, "I did not use her perfume!"

"I'm just telling you what I smelt." Sirius said innocently.

Remus leaned across the table and sniffed James.

"Well, you definitely smell like a woman." James glared at Remus.

"I did not use Lily's perfume! And besides Padfoot, how would you know what my wife smells like?" James tried to pin the attention on Sirius.

"What d'you mean? Her name's Lily, she smells like a Lily!" Sirius said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

While the Marauders continued to bicker, Ron and Harry high-fived beneath the table. Harry's dad would never know that they replaced his cologne with Harry's mum's perfume.


	5. Platform 9 34

**Searching for Desire**

_By Verically Challenged Poncho_

Chapter V: Platform 9 and ¾

DISCLAIMER: I do not own J.K. Rowling, she belongs to Harry Potter...strike that, reverse it.

Author's Notes: Thank you to all who have reviewed. Although the computer says I have new reviews, it's malfunctioning and not letting me view them. But I'm sure I'll be able to read them soon. I am still looking for a beta. Thank you.

* * *

Ella awoke at dawn on the first of September. She was too excited to fall back to sleep. Sister Kathy would be driving her to King's Cross Station that day. Ella didn't know which was funnier: the fact that the train ticket she had been given said to meet the train at Platform 9 and ¾ or getting to see a nun drive a car. Nuns weren't supposed to drive strictly speaking, but there was no other way for Ella to get there so Sister Kathy was driving her in a used car she had bought in secret many years ago.

Breakfast wasn't served at the orphanage until seven o'clock, after prayer time. So, Ella decided to open her schoolbooks she had bought at a strange place called Diagon Alley. A giant of a man named Hagrid had arrived at the orphanage a few weeks ago to take Ella shopping for her school things and fill her in about the wizarding world. It had been he too who had given her the ticket. She thought there was a mistake in the printing when she first saw it, but Hagrid –who quickly snatched the ticket back and searched it for a typo and then realized what Ella meant- told her it was a hidden platform so that the muggles wouldn't find out about them. The only trouble was, he had disappeared from sight before Ella could ask him how to get on to the platform.

It shouldn't be too difficult to find, Ella thought. After all there are supposed to be hundreds of students at Hogwarts, and if the witches and wizards at Diagon Alley were any indication, those meeting the train would stick out like a sore thumb.

Leaning back onto the small pillow of her stiff bed, Ella flipped to the back of _The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection_ by Quentin Trimble. She had found her textbooks to be positively fascinating and she had wanted to read them all before she began at Hogwarts so that she wouldn't be behind all of the other kids who had grown up in the wizarding world. She had finished all of the other books and was almost done with her Defense Against the Dark Arts one.

_The only curses that cannot be fought of are called the Unforgivable Curses. There are three of them and the use of any three on another human being is punishable by law. The first is the Imperius Curse, which enables the one performing the curse to control the subject. The Cruciatus Curse inflicts agonizing pain upon the subject. A Mr. And Mrs. Longbottom were tortured for an extended amount of time with the Cruciatus Curse and have now permanently lost their minds. The last and the worst is The Killing Curse, in which the subject is killed instantly. Only one known person has ever survived it and the wizard was only one year old at the time. Harry Potter (born in 1980) was attacked by the most feared wizard of our time, You-Know-Who. Apart from surviving the Killing Curse cast upon him, Harry Potter managed to destroy You-Know-Who in an unexplainable phenomenon. Young Harry Potter resides in the old house of Godric Gryffindor with his parents, Lily and James Potter. He is set to go to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and is expected to be the greatest wizard of our time. Harry Potter is recognizable to his many fans by the lightning bolt-shaped scar upon his forehead, which was left as a mark of the Killing Curse._

Ella paused to take in what she had just read. A baby surviving a curse that is marked by the fact no one can survive it? That sounded more than a little absurd. She glanced back over the paragraph. The book said that Harry Potter had been born in 1980, the same year as Ella, and would be attending Hogwarts. That meant that –if all this were true- she would probably be meeting him that very day.

A deep chiming sound met Ella's ears, signaling prayer time and causing rest of the girls at the orphanage to begin to rise. They had been sent back from the foster homes only yesterday and so far none of them knew that Ella would be leaving after breakfast.

Luckily, Ella went the whole morning without doing what her textbooks had called 'accidental magic'. As she exited the dining hall, her stomach churning from nerves (either that or the lumpy oatmeal they had eaten for breakfast), Sister Kathy grabbed her by the arm and ushered her out of the crowd of girls returning to their dormitory. Once they were in Sister Kathy's office, Kathy told her that they would have to be very careful and make sure that nobody was watching because no one was supposed to know about Sister Kathy's car.

Ella nodded.

"What about my trunk?" she asked, "Can I go back and get it?"

"I've already taken it to the car." Sister Kathy said, "Now, let's go."

Ella followed the nun through the stone hallways and down several floors to the basement of sorts, where Sister Kathy hid her car. Ella had known the car was here for ages. She found it one time when she had needed a place to hide from some particularly horrid foster parents. Once Sister Kathy had become her guardian, Ella had thought it would make for good blackmail, but she never did get around to blackmailing Sister Kathy.

They walked to the car without turning on any lights in the basement. Sister Kathy unlocked the doors and Ella slid into the front seat. However, when Sister Kathy tried to sit in the driver's seat, there was already someone there.

"Good morning, Sister Kathy." Said a sharp voice.

"Good morning, Mother." Sister Kathy said in a very abashed voice, refusing to make eye contact with Mother Superior.

"Excuse us Ella." Mother Superior got out of the car and led Sister Kathy to a corner across the basement and they began conversing in very very low tones.

On the one hand, Ella really wanted to listen to what was being said. It wasn't often, after all, that Sister Kathy got in trouble. On the other hand, Ella now had no way to get to King's Cross Station and her worries about that dominated her desire to eavesdrop.

After a few short moments, that felt like forever, Mother Superior returned with a very dopey looking Sister Kathy behind her.

"Come with me, Ella." Mother Superior instructed.

Ella walked quietly behind Mother Superior as they left Sister Kathy in the dark basement.

"Robert will be taking you to the train station." Mother Superior told Ella without turning to look at her.

Ella nodded again. Robert was the handyman at the orphanage. He had almost no hair and smelt of yeast bread and decaying pickles. He hardly ever said anything and when he did, he revealed all of his capped and yellowing teeth. This would be a fun journey, Ella thought sarcastically to herself.

As Ella was climbing into the handyman's beaten up old pick-up truck, she suddenly remembered that her trunk with all her school things was still down in Sister Kathy's car. Ella leapt out of the car and began running back towards the orphanage to retrieve it. She had almost made it to the grand oak front doors, when she hit something very hard and fell back onto the gravel.

Rubbing her hurt forehead, Ella looked up at what she had hit. It was her trunk floating in mid air. Ella squinted. The light must be playing a trick on her. Sure enough, Robert the Handyman was holding her trunk and looking at her in mild confusion as though he had never seen a girl fall down before. Shrugging his shoulders, he stepped right over Ella and went to put the trunk in the back of his pick-up.

Scrambling to her feet, Ella ran to catch up with Robert and get in the truck before he took off. Once they were both in, Robert started the car and left the orphanage without saying a word. After about five minutes of silence, Ella couldn't take it anymore.

"So," she tried to start mild conversation, "Fix anything lately?"

Robert grunted.

"Hmmm." Ella didn't quite know how to respond to that.

"Oh!" Ella said with more vigor than her last attempt, "What about that Sister Kathy, huh? Secretly owning a car?"

Another grunt.

"Right then." Ella said. Robert obviously didn't want to talk, so she wouldn't force him to.

They went the rest of the way without speaking. Ella entertained herself by staring out the window at passing cars, counting the hairs on Robert's head (seventeen), and wondering about what awaited her at Hogwarts.

In the middle of a busy city, Robert stopped the car and got out. Ella was thoroughly confused as to his behavior, but when she saw him lift her trunk out of the back of the pick-up she supposed they must be at the train station.

Ella hopped out of the truck, and ran to catch up with Robert. She had never been to King's Cross before and didn't know where anything was.

Robert got a trolley to put her trunk on, and led her to a section of the station with platforms 1-12. Then he stopped, handed the trolley to Ella, and left without a word.

"Well, I'd better find some wizards or else I'll never get on to the train." Ella said to herself. She pushed her trolley towards platform 9. She figured the hidden platform would probably be somewhere around platforms nine and ten.

Ella looked at her watch. She still had a half hour before the train left. Probably most families wouldn't be getting there for at least twenty minutes. Too tired to stand and wait that whole time, Ella sat down against the brick column separating platforms nine and ten.

As soon as she leaned her back up against the column, she fell through! The upper half of her body entered a whole other train station with lots of wizard children and the their parents all surrounding a huge scarlet steam engine.

"What are you doing?" a man that looked to be something of a ticket taker asked her shrilly.

"I…I fell through." Ella stammered, still laying on the cement floor.

"Well, come in rest of the way! What will the muggles think when they see a pair of legs sticking out of a brick wall?"

Ella didn't quite know how to get the rest of her body in. So she decided to just stand up. She found she was still on the wizarding side of the barrier, but

"My trunk." Ella told the wizard. "My trunk is still on the other side."

"Well, what are you telling me for? Just go and get it."

"Right." Ella mumbled. Taking a deep breath, Ella stood before the wall. Now that she knew what was supposed to happen, she was a bit nervous that something would go wrong. Surely she would run into brick as she tried to get back.

Deciding it would be best done at a run, Ella ran towards the barrier –bracing herself for the collision- but she didn't run into a brick wall. No, Ella ran into a boy with jet black hair and glasses. Each of them fell backwards on the cement and Ella was pleased to see that they were on the other side of the barrier.

"Dad!" the boy shouted, "You said nothing would happen, that I could go through easily!"

"Yeah…" what looked like a grown up version of the boy Ella had run into scratched his head, "Never seen that happen before."

"Why were you coming back?" a woman with bright red hair and a rather frazzled look about her asked her.

"I forgot my trunk." Ella told them.

"Is this it?" the woman pointed to a trunk that had been pushed off to the side of the barrier.

"Yes, thank you." Ella walked over to get it.

"Alright, we're running out of time. Harry try going through again." The man who looked like the black-haired boy said. _Harry_. Ella thought, why did that name sound significant?

"I'm not going back through!" the boy whose name must be Harry said, "Someone else might run into me."

"Fred you go then." The woman who had shown Ella her trunk instructed a red haired boy to go to the barrier.

"I'm not Fred, I'm George!" the boy said, "Honestly woman, you call yourself our mother."

"I'm sorry George." The mother said.

"Only joking, I am Fred." The boy said with a grin as he ran through the barrier, his twin following right behind him.

"Percy, you next and then we'll let…what's your name?" the woman was looking at Ella.

"Ella."

"You go after Percy then and Ron, Harry, why don't you two go together? We're running out of time."

After another red haired boy went through the barrier, Ella pushed her trunk towards the brick column and hoped beyond hope that she wouldn't hit _anything_.

* * *


End file.
